The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for Governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.
(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to fiber optic elements and is directed more particularly to a method for joining together fiber optic elements so as to provide a physical and optical connection therebetween.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Fiber optic strands typically include a central region in which light propagates, a cladding region to contain the light within the central region, and customarily a protective jacket. It is generally known to consolidate light carried in a group of fiber optic strands into a single strand, and, conversely, to channel light broadcast through a single strand into a plurality of strands in a bundled fiber optic element. Either way, it is necessary that light be released from one or more fiber optic strands and captured by another one or more fiber optic strands.
To couple fiber optic strands such that light is transferred from one to the other, it is common to remove protective jackets and cladding from the strands, fuse the strands together, and then re-jacket the coupled strands for structural integrity. Alternatively, welding together of the fiber optic strands has been utilized, which affects the cladding only at the welding site. In other instances, the fiber optic strands have simply been terminated and lenses are used to feed the light into the receiving strand. In still other instances, silicon waveguides have been attached to optical fibers for transmitting light therebetween.
There is a need for a method for interconnecting fiber optic strands such that cladding and jacketing need not be stripped away and jacketing replaced for structural integrity. There is a need for a method by which the strands can be connected both optically and physically and without the need for lenses, waveguides, and the like.
An object of the invention is, therefore, to provide a method for connecting together first and second fiber optic elements, both optically and physically, such that the elements need not be altered prior to being connected, do not require any intermediary lenses, or the like, and such that the connection, once effected, serves to provide structural integrity.
With the above and other objects in view, a feature of the present invention is the provision of a method for connecting a first fiber optic element to a second fiber optic element. The method comprises the steps of providing a rigid body, coating outer surfaces of the body with heated mold making wax and cooling the wax to a hardened state suitable to form a mold, and separating the body from the wax to provide a hollow wax housing. The first fiber optic element is inserted in a first direction into the housing to position a free end of the first fiber element in the housing, and the second fiber optic element is inserted into the housing from a direction generally opposite to the first direction to position a free end of the second fiber optic element in the housing in confronting relationship with the first fiber optic element free end. The housing is then filled with optical grade epoxy resin which is permitted to cure, whereby to effect physical and optical connection between the first and second fiber optic elements. The free ends are in close proximity to one another, or in the case of intended coupling from one strand to many, in enough of a spaced relationship to cause needed light diffusion in the resin medium.
The above and other features of the invention, including various novel details of construction and combinations of elements, will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims. It will be understood that the particular method embodying the invention is shown by way of illustration only and not as a limitation of the invention. The principles and features of this invention may be employed in various and numerous embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention.